Every Goole Vikings signing for 2025 including Hull FC and Hull KR men ahead of League 1 debut

League 1 newcomers Goole Vikings have already been busy in the transfer market ahead of their debut season in the professional pyramid, with seven signings already announced.

Based in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Vikings reigned supreme in the RFL’s bidding process to join League 1 – and will make up an 11-team division in the third tier next term.

They have appointed former Hull FC and England prop Scott Taylor as head coach, and he has brought in some familiar faces to his side for next year.

Kevin Marshall has been appointed as Taylor’s assistant, stepping up from his role as the club’s amateur team coach.

Here is a full run-down of every signing Goole have made ahead of 2025 so far…

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Tom Halliday

Halliday, 28, was the very first signing confirmed by the Vikings. Born in Goole, he joins the Vikings from Championship outfit Doncaster – who he has been with since 2019.

The winger, who gained promotion via the League 1 play-offs with the Dons in 2023, scored 59 tries in 81 appearances during his time at the Eco-Power Stadium. His only two previous senior appearances came for Dewsbury Rams in the 2017 campaign.

Ben Hodder

22-year-old Hodder is also a local, and he makes the step up into the ‘professional’ ranks in joining the Vikings having been plying his trade in the Yorkshire League for the club’s amateur side.

Also an outside-back, Hodder hails from the village of Holme-on-Spalding Moor.

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Jamie Shaul

Ex-Hull FC stalwart Shaul was Goole’s first ‘big name’ recruit, with boss Taylor calling upon the services of his former Airlie Birds team-mate and long-time pal.

Now 32, one-time England international Shaul made exactly 200 appearances for the Black and Whites, winning the Challenge Cup in 2016 and 2017. He also made appearances for Wakefield Trinity and York, announcing his retirement from rugby league in October 2023.

The outside-back, who scored over 100 tries for Hull, has spent the last year donning a shirt for Hull RUFC in rugby union, and will now return to league with Goole.

Josh Guzdek

29-year-old Guzdek, whose primary position is at full-back, joins Goole from Doncaster where he has spent the last 18 months or so. Winning promotion via the League 1 play-offs in 2023, he scored eight tries in 30 appearances for the Dons overall.

A Skirlaugh Bulls junior, Guzdek joined Hull KR aged 13 and went on to make two Super League appearances for the Robins, one in 2013 and one in 2015.

Over the years, he’s also donned a shirt for Newcastle Thunder, Coventry Bears (now Midlands Hurricanes), Keighley Cougars, Dewsbury, Sheffield Eagles, London Skolars and Doncaster, amassing more than 200 senior appearances.

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Thomas Minns

Another former KR ace has joined the Vikings in the shape of outside-back Minns, 30, who made 49 appearances for the Robins between 2016 and 2018 with 34 tries to his name for the East Hull outfit.

Born in Leeds, Minns came through the Rhinos’ youth ranks and made his senior bow at Headingley. Having also featured for London Broncos, Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield as well as KR, he has over 100 first-team appearances on his CV.

Last playing in the professional game in 2022 for Wakefield, the veteran stepped down from full-time rugby league to concentrate on establishing a career in the fire and rescue service, but has been granted permission to take up an opportunity with Goole.

Alex Holdstock

The first forward signed by Goole ahead of their League 1 debut was 23-year-old Holdstock, who signs for the Vikings having made 60 appearances for Doncaster.

Able to play through the middle or in the back row, Holdstock came through the junior ranks with Hull KR before making the move to the Dons and making his senior bow at the age of 18 back in February 2020.

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Reece Dean

Goole’s most recent recruit at the time of writing is half-back Dean, who came through the youth ranks at Hull FC but departed the MKM Stadium before making a first-team appearance.

Set to turn 28 in November, Dean amassed 49 appearances in rugby league across games in the colours of Doncaster, Sheffield, Hunslet, Newcastle Thunder and Rochdale Hornets, scoring 14 tries and kicking 107 goals in the process.

More recently however, the playmaker has starred for Hull RUFC, setting a new club record for the most goals in a single season last year and scoring 247 points.